Line of Duty
"I want to be a police officer when I grow up!" 5-year-old Joe told his younger sister, 4-year-old Lilac. "I just want to be a florist or something simple like that," Lilac responded. 11 years later, their parents took a boat trip. Five days later, the boat was found wrecked. The first responders ruled it impossible that anyone could have survived. "LILLY!!! LILLY!!!" Joe frantically pounded on his sister's bedroom door. "TURN THE FRICKING TV OFF!" When he heard a scream come from the room, he knew he had been too late to prevent her from seeing the news of her parents' deaths. Chapter 1 After the deaths of their parents, Joe became a severe introvert. His childhood dreams of becoming a police officer seemed crushed. The siblings became closer and eventually moved into a smaller house together. Lilac volunteered at libraries and animal shelters in her spare time. The rest of the time she spent at home. When Joe was 21, he became a police officer after all. Lilac became a florist. Their childhood dreams finally came true, but their lives were far from perfect. Joe's immune system had always been a bit weak, not to mention that his will to keep up a tough-guy appearance was far too strong. Since the death of his parents, he went from happy and funny to depressed and solemn. He often woke up in the middle of the night thinking about his parents. Lilac tried to be as positive as she could, but it was hard for her, too. Joe had a habit of staring at the ceiling and crying when he was alone. Everyone thought he was tough, but really, he constantly was at the edge of insanity. Lilac discovered him laying on his back on the floor one night, eyes fixed on his police badge. "I'm... not... fit for th-this... I-I hate my-myself so much... I-I c-could h-have stopped i-it... y-years ago!" his voice faltered as he started to tear up. "J-Joe... why are you crying?" "I-I'm f-fine..." "I'm your sister... Joe... it's fine... let it out..." "YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND...! LILAC... L-LEAVE ME ALONE." Lilac had never seen him like this before. It came as a shock that... this could have been going on for years... and it had been... Joe put his face in his hands and sniffled a few times. "It's okay..." "NO IT'S N-NOT! I'm just an immature crybaby... I'm not okay... nothing's okay..." "I don't want to hear you call yourself that again, got it? You're not a crybaby," Lilac walked over to her brother and sat down. "Look at me. LOOK AT ME. You call thi-this not a crybaby?" "N-no I don't..." "It's not okay for me to be crying like this... THERE'S NO FRI-FRICKING REASON!" "There's a reason... I know there is... spit it out, Joe." Joe shook his head. "Y-you'd think I w-was a baby." "No, I wouldn't." "I-I can't t-tell you... pl-please leave m-me alone... I want to be al-alone..." "Okay Joe... it'll be okay..." Lilac walked out of the room and closed the door, leaving Joe to have a mental breakdown... alone. Chapter 2 Two days later, Joe was on his beat with his police partner, Jeff. "Hey Joe, what's going on?" Jeff asked. "You asked that two minutes ago and the answer is still the same. Nothing's going on around here." "Should we go back to the department?" "Probably, but no. 'Our beat isn't done!'" Joe quoted the chief's words in a high-pitched voice. Joe slowed down a little bit and eventually stopped. "What are you looking at?" "N-nothing." "Are you okay?" "Y-yeah... but may-maybe we should head back..." Once they finally got back to the police department, Joe stopped again. "I... d-don't feel so... good..." Joe half-collapsed to the floor and threw up. "JOE?" "OH GOD. OH GOD. I-" "It's fine, Joe... are you okay?" "Ye-yeah, but..." "It happens to everyone." Five minutes later, the chief arrived. "YOU CUT YOUR BEAT SHORT AGA- wait, who threw up on the floor?!" The chief was answered when Joe tried to speak but all that came out was retching and ultimately vomit. "Go home." "W-why?" "ISN'T THAT OBVIOUS? You're obviously sick." "Y-yes sir..." "Oh, Joe! You're- what happened?" "I threw up in front of both of them. GOD, LILAC, IF I HAD ANY SELF CONTROL-" "Joe, I'm sure they understood." "Yeah, but still..." Joe coughed. "You don't look good." "Big surprise, I threw up less than a half hour ago. Twice." "Twice?" "LILAC, IF YOU'RE GOING TO START THIS WHOLE PANIC ATTACK AGAIN, I SWEAR-" Before Joe could intervene, Lilac pressed her hand to his forehead. "You're burning up." "I'm not." "It's flu season, isn't it?" "Ye- oh god. Lilac, I was getting vaccines tomorrow." "Why didn't you get it yesterday?" "HOW THE FRICK WOULD HAVE I HAVE KNOWN I'D GET SICK?" "Good point," Lilac shrugged. "Also, how much sleep have you gotten the last week?" "None of your business." "It is when you fall asleep at your desk." "Uh, uhm... probably less than five hours counting that hour I slept at my desk?" "FIVE HOURS FOR A WEEK? You need sleep!" "Okay, MOM," Joe mocked her. Lilac made a face and walked off. Joe decided to eat the pizza from a few nights ago that was in the fridge. Bad decision. The stains on the white carpet from the throwing up following probably never would come out. Chapter 3 A week later, back at the police department, Jeff called from the jail cells. "THAT KID WE LOCKED UP WANTS TO TALK TO YOU!" "Which one, Jeff?" "Your look-alike." The other Joe. The kid with two personalities, with an adoptive sister named Lavender. When Joe went back to talk to the kid, he was shocked by the kid grinning at him. "You know, I named myself after you because I look like you and also you were my role model." "Yeah, you were an orphan." "I named myself." "Do you remember your family?" "Nah, I was an infant according to the older orphans who raised me." "You do look a lot like me. I remember something about a sibling of mine who was put up for adoption. Never met him. I know how it feels when you have no clue who a relative is." "Yeah." "So who ARE you?" The older Joe asked. "Don't know." "Hmm." Later that day, Jeff called Joe. "Did you know you had a brother? Because that blonde kid that looks like you? He's your brother." Chapter 4 "Jeff, let the kid out. We're just going to let him out for a day..." "Are we really supposed to be doing this?" Joe asked the two older cops once they left the prison. "Uh... no," his brother answered. Suddenly, he stopped in the middle of the street. "This... this street..." "Y-yes... do you see what you d-did to me?" A ghostly girl asked. "Who are you?" "Joe, who you talking to?" No answer was received from Joe. "It's me... Francis... the orphan who raised you..." the spiritual girl told him. "FRANCIS! WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU?" "I starved... Joe... I came to warn you... you're going to die..." Joe ignored the warning and half-whispered, "The other orphans told me you got adopted..." "I'm sorry, I didn't want to hurt you..." "HOW DID YOU STARVE? THEY GAVE YOU FOOD!" "I gave it to you..." Francis answered. "WHY DID YOU? YOU STARVED FOR ME?" "Joe-" the boy's brother began. "Don't even question it," Jeff told him. "Why did you do it..." Nobody noticed the sound of an out-of-control car. "Why...?" Francie finally noticed the car. "GET OUT OF THE ROAD, JOE! HURRY!" she screamed. They all saw it. It was too late. The car crashed into the side of the abandoned building, but nobody else was hurt. The driver, a teenage girl learning how to operate a car, and her mother ran out alongside the policemen. "OH MY GOD! I KILLED A KID!" "A kid...? He's my brother..." Joe angrily stated. "HELLO, 911? I JUST HIT A KID WITH MOM'S CAR!" the girl screamed over the phone. "Oh okay, that's nice, I'll send an ambulance," said the first responder nonchalantly. "Dude, some girl just hit a kid with her mother's car." At the hospital, Joe, Jeff, the girl, and her mother waited anxiously for news about the gravely injured younger Joe. "Sir?" the redhead that had answered the phone said. "Your brother's dead, have a good day!" With that, she turned and walked back into the room without another word, leaving the older brother and the rest of them alone. Chapter 5 Category:Sad Category:Insanity Category:Heartbreaking Category:Emotional Category:DiopsideDove